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Tour de France Champions born or made: where do we take the genetics of performance?

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Moran, Colin N., Pitsiladis, Yannis P.·2017·Journal of Sports Sciences
DOI 10.1080/02640414.2016.1215494
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Abstract

Cyclists in the Tour de France are endurance specialists. Twin and family studies have shown that approximately 50% of the variance in a number of performance-related phenotypes (whether measured at baseline, i.e., natural talent, or in response to training) including those important to cycling can be explained by genetic variation. Research into the specific genetic variants that are responsible has identified over 200 genes containing common genetic variants involved in the genetic predisposition to physical performance. However, typically these explain only a small portion of the variance, perhaps 1-2% and collectively they rarely explain anything approaching the 50% of the variance identified in the twin and family studies. Thus, there is a gap in our understanding of the relationship between heritability and performance. This gap may be bridged by investigation of rare variants or epigenetic variation or by altering study designs through increased collaborations to pool existing cohorts together. Initial findings from such efforts show promising results. This mini-review will touch on the genetics and epigenetics of sporting performance, how they relate to cyclists in the Tour de France and where best future efforts may be directed as well as discuss some preliminary research findings.

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  • There appears to be no single gene that accounts for even a few percent of the variance in any of the athletic characteristics.

    “So far there appears to be no single gene that accounts for even a few percent of the variance in any of the athletic characteristics (Moran and Pitsiladis, 2017).”

    From Deliberate Practice and Proposed Limits on the Effects of Practice on the Acquisition of Expert Performance: Why the Original Definition Matters and Recommendations for Future Research (2019) · cites this paper as Moran and Pitsiladis, 2017

    The Common Genetic Variants section says that common variants, including ACTN3 R577X, typically explain only about 1–2% of phenotypic variance. That supports the claim’s general point about small effects, but not its categorical assertion that no single gene accounts for even a few percent of the variance in any athletic characteristic. The Rare Genetic Variants section also discusses variants with potentially larger effects; page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.86)

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Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Moran, C. N., & Pitsiladis, Y. P.
Affiliations
  • University of Stirling (GB)
  • University of Brighton (GB)
Corresponding author
Moran, Colin N.
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Sports Sciences
Publisher
Informa UK Limited
Published
2016-08-06
Volume
35
Issue
14
Pages
1411-1419
ISSN
  • 0264-0414 (ISSN-L)
  • 1466-447X
DOI
10.1080/02640414.2016.1215494
OpenAlex
W2495805258
Cited by
32
References
6
Citations by year
2025: 4 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 1 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 1
FWCI
0.54
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
public-domain
Locations
  • Journal of Sports Sciences (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Stirling Online Research Repository (University of Stirling) (submittedVersion, public-domain)
  • University of Brighton Repository (University of Brighton) (submittedVersion)
  • University of Brighton Repository (University of Brighton) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
Funders
  • Diabetes Research and Wellness Foundation
  • Tenovus
  • Novo Nordisk
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetics and Physical Performance
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic Associations and Epidemiology
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Genetic and phenotypic traits in livestock
Keywords
Tour de France, cycling performance, common genetic variants, rare variants, epigenetics, twin and family studies, endurance athletes
MeSH terms
Aptitude, Bicycling, Competitive Behavior, France, Humans, Physical Endurance, Genetic Variation, Epigenomics, Physical Conditioning, Human

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